diff --git a/controllers/secret/secret_controller.go b/controllers/secret/secret_controller.go
index 499814be..8b4a0507 100644
--- a/controllers/secret/secret_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/secret/secret_controller.go
@@ -31,7 +31,12 @@ func mySecretPredicate() predicate.Predicate {
 		CreateFunc: func(e event.CreateEvent) bool { return passes(e.Object) },
 		DeleteFunc: func(e event.DeleteEvent) bool { return e.Object.GetName() == config.SplunkHECTokenSecretName },
 		UpdateFunc: func(e event.UpdateEvent) bool {
-			return passes(e.ObjectOld) && dataChanged(e.ObjectOld.(*corev1.Secret), e.ObjectNew.(*corev1.Secret))
+			oldSecret, oldOk := e.ObjectOld.(*corev1.Secret)
+			newSecret, newOk := e.ObjectNew.(*corev1.Secret)
+			if !oldOk || !newOk {
+				return false
+			}
+			return passes(e.ObjectOld) && dataChanged(oldSecret, newSecret)
 		},
 		GenericFunc: func(e event.GenericEvent) bool { return passes(e.Object) },
 	}